Selfish Joy, Selfless Joy

Noah attempted to rectify Eve’s error, and to experience joy without self-awareness.

"He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and
uncovered himself inside his tent." (Gen. 9:21)

The Zohar notes that while "Eve entered the world and
became attached to the snake…and Noah entered the world…drank from the wine, and
became drunk…Sarah descended [to Egypt] and went up unscathed."

...he had merited Divine
inspiration...by
virtue of performing the commandments with intense joy.

A fundamental concept in Judaism is the importance of
serving G‑d with joy. The renowned kabbalist, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria (the Arizal) of Tzefat, when asked by his students why he had merited Divine
inspiration and encounters with the prophet Elijah, replied that it was only by
virtue of performing the commandments with intense joy. Performing the
commandments joylessly is lacking and incomplete, and therefore cannot bring the
world to perfection.

According to the Midrash, the forbidden fruit Eve
offered Adam was wine; Eve was aware of the importance of joy and sought to
attain it through wine. But she failed to experience holy joy, since she
succumbed to the feelings of self-awareness and ego that are the by-products of
less-than-holy celebrating. Prior to the sin, Adam and Eve were merely vehicles
for Divine expression; once they took the fateful sip of wine, they gained
self-awareness and began to operate in a realm of seeming separateness from G‑d.

Noah attempted to rectify Eve’s error, to experience
joy without self-awareness. He therefore sought to negate his selfhood through
drunkenness. But this endeavor was misguided, since the goal is not to numb the
mind and emotions through drinking, but rather to lose the self through humility
and surrender to G‑d.

Selfless joy was finally achieved by Sarah...

Selfless joy was finally achieved by Sarah, who is
associated with malchut (the name Sarah is derived from the word
serara, "rulership"). Malchut, the lowest sefirah, has no
intrinsic "content" of its own, and receives whatever it has from the higher sefirot. This is the epitome of selflessness. True joy is born of humility,
since one who is humble does not feel deserving of anything and is therefore
never disappointed. Joy born of selflessness has no negative consequences; on
the contrary, it brings us to the highest levels of spiritual experience, a
taste of the World to Come. This is why Sarah’s son was named Yitzchak
("laughter"), a foretaste of the messianic era, when "our mouths will be filled
with laughter." This is why King David, who also embodies malchut and
selflessness, also epitomized serving G‑d with joy. Similarly, Rabbi Yitzhak
Luria was a spark of the soul of Moses, the humblest of all men, and therefore
experienced true joy.

We, too, when we emulate the humility of Sarah, Moses,
King David, and Rabbi Luria, can fulfill our Divine mission with true joy and
without fear of negative repercussions.